I read somewhere a few months ago that long-term unemployment had left some people with bad credit reports and it impacted their ability to find new jobs.

And when THEY are the ones paying ME, really does it matter what kind of credit I have? If I’M the one paying THEM, yes, I think it’s important for them to establish my credit history. But otherwise, no.

That being said, I don’t see the rationale of companies running credit checks on potential employees. I think someone’s personal life can look much different from someone’s professional life. There are people who might be quite good at creating and keeping corporate budgets, but can’t manage their own money. The difference between the two is that *it’s your job* to create and stick to corporate budgets, but no one pays you to keep track of your own finances.

I think it’s a form of discrimination, especially during these difficult times. I’m sure there are people who had great credit at one time, but all it takes is a cancer diagnosis, a pink slip, and/or suddenly becoming sole caregiver to an aging parent to tank your credit. Even the best budget keepers can’t pay $1500 in medical bills per month if they’re only pulling in $30,000 per year. And considering that I think it’s illegal for employers to ask someone their age, health status, or anything else about their personal life, the employers have no way of knowing that tanked credit has to do with the fact that the potential employee’s child needed radiation therapy for a full year. And I don’t think potential employees should be forced to disclose that information, either.

If I’m running a small company, I want to know how a potential coworker handles their cash. Are they casual with it or a frugal mofo? It all plays in evaluating how a person fits into a specific company.

And personally, I don’t see the connection between your personal financial health and your professional performance. I made a LOT of financial mistakes in college and graduated with over $15k in credit card debt and a credit score of 500. But that doesn’t mean that I’ve ever stolen from an employer, not even paper clips. I’ve paid off 2/3 of that debt and brought my credit score up by 100 points.

I have three acquaintances who have worked in the financial sector. #1 is a CFO, makes $125k/year and deals with multi-million dollar budgets. He is a recovering gambling addict and used to take between $1000-$5000 to Atlantic City EVERY week. He never touched company money for his gambling but when he sought help, he had $100,000 in credit card debt. (yikes!)
#2 sold pot in college and was arrested in college for possession. He went through pre-trial intervention and got the charges dropped. Now he’s a manager dealing with annuities for one of the big banks and is working on his MBA.
#3 was an accountant with a perfect credit score and a volunteer with her local PTA until she embezzled $17,000 to take her kids to Disney World.

Who do you think would have gotten weeded out of their job by checking background and finances?

I also know that at any time, my phone calls can be recorded and I always just assume that my email is monitored while I am at work, whether it is personal or company-related. That’s the price for having a well-paid, stable job that I worked hard to get. No hard feelings – it’s what I expected would be required of me, and if I were the client, I would also expect no less of the company I hired to work with my taxes.

But on the other hand, we all have a much larger degree over our finances than we do over our gender, ethnicity, etc….ahh! Such a tricky issue!

Another thing is IRS records and tax returns. One thing I highly disapprove of is the aspect of health care reform related to IRS records and tax returns. I don’t want a health care provider to have any connection to those private records of ours. The health care system is the biggest scam in America already, and inviting them to access our tax returns is a horrible invasion.